CH 31.2

When it finally dawned, the voices gradually disappeared, but Xiao Hua was still white-lipped and speechless. They could only decide to let Xue Xiao, the only other female in the group, accompany her. Xue Xiao patiently comforted Xiao Hua for a long time, until her emotions finally stabilised. 

“After we left Xie Ge’s room, I wanted to go to the toilet, but I was afraid, so I asked Hai Ge to accompany me. He stood there waiting for me, but when I came out, I saw… I saw the dogs biting him,” Xiao Hua said.

Gu Xizhou looked at Xiao Hua in surprise and asked: “Why didn’t he call out?”

Xiao Hua: “He couldn’t speak… a dog was biting… biting at his neck, so he couldn’t speak…” 

She spoke until here, then started crying again. “It’s all my fault, if I hadn’t asked Hai Ge to accompany me to the toilet, he wouldn’t have died…” 

Hearing Xiao Hua’s words, Xie Wenhuo turned pale and subconsciously looked out.

“Did Xiao Hai do anything strange?” Xie Wenhuo’s eyes were bloodshot, and were red at the edges. He hurriedly wanted to identify the conditions for death.

Xiao Hua carefully recalled for a moment, and finally shook her head. Her face was pale, and she was obviously feeling stressed. She swallowed and said: “No.”

The old players around displayed a clearly disappointed look. Not finding the conditions for death was really detrimental to them. 

After about ten more minutes, the sun had risen.

Gu Xizhou and the rest discovered that the corpse in the alleyway was similar to that of yesterday. The body was incomplete, and the mode was death was incredibly tragic. The blood had splattered all over the floor, and the bitten head was casually left in the corner.

After breakfast, Xie Wenhuo led them out to ask for information, but there was nothing valuable. 

When they returned, the corpse and blood had disappeared at the same time, just like the man from yesterday. The courtyard also only found out that one more child had gone missing in the afternoon.

…

In Xie Wenhuo’s room, several people were sullen, and one of them said uncertainly: “We are like headless flies now, lost and directionless.”

“Do we really have to repay them with our lives in order for them to calm their hatred?”

Eight dogs that died, if a life had to repay a life, that meant at least eight people had to die.

Only eleven people had come here. If a life really had to be used to repay a life, then only three people could safely leave!

“It wasn’t even us who poisoned them, so why?!”

As soon as those words came out, the group became nervous. Xiao Hua started to cry again. Xie Wenhuo glanced at the wall clock on the wall and said, “Forget it, let’s talk later, and continue to ask about the dogs in the afternoon.”

After lunch.

Xe Wlhtbe’r aglb obiibkfv Wlf Qfcteb jcv atf gfra ab jrx atf RUJr lc atf sjgv jybea atf lcmlvfca gfujgvlcu atf vbur, yea atfs vlvc’a gfmflnf jcs cfk lcobgwjalbc.

Dfmjerf atfs kfgf jii mbecags vbur, jcv atf qfbqif lc atf abkc vlvc’a gfjiis mjgf jybea atlcur ilxf atlr, atf vbu’r mbgqrf kjr pera mjrejiis atgbkc jkjs. Cr obg atf vbur atja tjv yffc qblrbcfv, atfs kfgf vlgfmais yegca klat olgf, jcv fnfc atf jrtfr tjvc’a yffc ifoa yftlcv.

Yesterday, they hadn’t discovered the death conditions, so Gu Xizhou could sense that the atmosphere of the group was very depressed tonight. This was probably because that thing could enter and leave the yard at will, so at night, Gu Xizhou glanced at several rooms outside the window. The lights were still on, and only Gu Xizhou’s room had their lights off. 

Si Yu and Fang Zhi laid on either side of him. Fang Zhi was like everyone else, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. He glanced at Si Yu. Si Yu had his eyes closed and was already away in dreamland. 

Gu Xizhou thought about the information collected in the past few days and felt slightly uncertain. 

Although he had only glanced at it last night, he was sure that he had seen a pair of eyes.  However, he had also definitely heard the barking of countless dogs. 

At about three in the morning, the Gu Xizhou who was fast asleep suddenly heard a desperate scream!

The scream came from the room diagonally opposite them. Gu Xizhou subconsciously stood up and rushed over. Unlike last night, the people in other rooms did not leave their rooms, but opened their windows.  

“What happened?” Gu Xizhou kicked down the door to the room where the calls of help came from. Inside was a man and a woman, and the woman pointed to the courtyard, crying: “There, there are dogs, I saw it, they… they were looking in!”

Gu Xizhou looked at the crying Xiao Hua. She pointed outside with a trembling finger, but when Gu Xizhou glanced out, there was nothing there.

“Ah! They’re coming!” Xiao Hua cried as she shouted. She fiercely pushed away the man next to her and crazily ran out, anxiously shouting at Gu Xizhou’s trio and the man. “Run quickly! They’re right behind you!”

Gu Xizhou didn’t see anything, and it seemed that only Xiao Hua could see those dogs. However, the sound of barking suddenly split the silent night, as if confirming Xiao Hua’s words! At this moment, it seemed that countless dogs were barking in the yard, scaring the man so badly that his entire body shook, and he collapsed on the ground.

When Gu Xizhou ran out, Xiao Hua had disappeared. 

After returning to the room, Gu Xizhou frowned at Si Yu, “Is there anything wrong with the  direction we’re searching in?”

Si Yu nodded slightly. “I also feel that there is a problem. The mission world will never let us repay a life with a life. Too many people would die like that.”

At that time, Gu Xizhou suddenly looked at Fang Zhi. Fang Zhi had abruptly pulled open the drawers in the room and was looking around.

Gu Xizhou smiled when he saw him like this, “What are you doing?”

Fang Zhi said: “Trying to search in a different direction. There are no clues relating to the Tian family, so maybe there’s something in our rooms? Besides, didn’t Si Ge say  that the mission world wouldn’t give out compulsory death conditions?”

Gu Xizhou nodded and accompanied Fang Zhi to rummage through the room. Unfortunately, there was nothing useful in Gu Xizhou’s room.

In the early morning, everyone got together again, and someone whispered: “I think Xiao Hua and Xiao Hai must have encountered the death conditions, that’s why it’s like this. Else, something that none of us can see, she alone saw it!”

But when they thought back to Xiao Hua and Xiao Hai, these two people, they had never done anything different, and had always stuck to them. If they had really encountered the death conditions, then all of them must have triggered the death conditions as well.  

In the morning, Gu Xizhou refused to go out with Xie Wenhuo to find out the news and chose to search at home. They finally found a photo in a photo album in Fang Zhi’s room.

There were thirteen nine to ten-years-old children in the photo. They held out peace signs to the camera. The background was a lush grove. There was nothing special about it, but because he did not want to miss any clues, Gu Xizhou took the photo and went to find his NPC mother.

After seeing the photo, the woman said: “This photo should have been taken when you went to Muguan Mountain to play.”

The photo didn’t seem to be of any use.

Up until late afternoon, Gu Xizhou didn’t find any other clues. 

Right when Gu Xizhou’s trio had run into a problem, whispers echoed outside, and it was a very familiar sound. It sounded like Xue Xiao was speaking to someone.

They opened the door and saw Xie Wenhuo and the rest coming back. Xie Wenhuo’s eyes were full of smiles, and he raised his chin. “Guess who we found?”

Gu Xizhou glanced at him. “?”

“Her?” Fang Zhi was stunned for a while, and saw Xiao Hua appear from behind Xue Xiao. “Are you okay?!”

Xiao Hua was covered with blood, but apparen,tly someone had treated her wounds. She was sobbing, and her whole body was shaking. Obviously, she hadn’t recovered from what happened last night.

“I don’t know what happened. I saw the dogs staring at me, and I was very scared. At that time, I lost my mind and ran away,” Xiao Hua said with a trembling voice.

“I ran to the edge of the town, and I saw the mountain we climbed during the day. I was chased… and I was in a hurry, and I went up! Then those things kept calling under the mountain, and they didn’t go up. I stayed on the mountain for one night, and I didn’t dare to come out until I heard their voice from Xie Ge this morning.”

Xie Wenhuo was extremely relaxed because he had found a condition: “Even if those things find us, we don’t have to be afraid. They don’t dare to go up Muguan Mountain.”

There was a cigarette in his mouth, and his expression was delighted with a slight hint of laziness. 

Because he had figured out a way to survive, Xie Wenhuo was in a much better mood. He swept aside the unhappiness from before and started to pack in the afternoon, preparing to stay in Muguan Mountain at night, willing to simply wait and leave this world after seven days.

Gu Xizhou’s trio shared a glance, and Gu Xizhou asked Si Yu: “You have experienced many worlds, what do you think? Should we go with them?”

“I don’t want to go out. Staying in the mountain at night seems dangerous, and the name of that mountain isn’t very lucky either.” 

Fang Zhi: “Unlucky?”

Fang Zhi had a faint impression of the mountain’s name. Muguan mountain, when the characters Mu and Guan were put together, meant coffin. It was truly unlucky. 

Gu Xizhou nodded, “I don’t want to go up the mountain either.”

The three of them decided to stay in the yard. Gu Xizhou believed the NPCs’ words, that it was safe to stay in the yard. Even if it wasn’t safe, as long as it wasn’t an immediate death condition like breaking a mirror, he would likely be able to cope with it. 

Seeing the trio refuse, Xie Wenhuo didn’t push, and took the others to Muguan mountain before night fell. 

Gu Xizhou’s trio went directly back to the room. Gu Xizhou took those photos and looked them over again, but there was nothing special about it. 

“I always think that girl is weird.” Gu Xizhou frowned and looked at the sky that was not completely dark yet outside. “She said that there were many dogs chasing her, but I obviously only saw a pair of eyes.”

“That’s not necessarily the case. There were indeed many barking dogs.”

Gu Xizhou had just put the photo down when he suddenly picked up the photo again.

“What’s wrong?” Si Yu looked at Gu Xizhou strangely.

Gu Xizhou said: “This picture is wrong!”

“En?”

“This photo doesn’t have 13 people, there should be 14 people.”

Fang Zhi was stunned for a while, then recovered and said, “There is still a person taking the picture!”

Gu Xizhou nodded. He rushed to the living room next door, found his NPC parents who were watching TV, and asked.

“It seems like…” The woman stared at the photo for a while. “No one went to the mountain with you at that time, because the farmers were busy… Wait… I seem to remember something!”

The woman clapped her hands and said: “It’s the Tian’s daughter who took the picture!”

Gu Xizhou was startled. “The Tian’s daughter?”

“Yes! It was the very nice little girl who had been living in our yard when she was a child. Oh, if you don’t remember her, it’s normal. When you were in the third or fourth grade of elementary school, the little girl was abducted.”

“Abducted?”

The woman sighed and said, “In fact, I don’t know if she was abducted. But we just couldn’t find her. Like the other children, she just couldn’t be found.”

Si Yu sat up suddenly and said, “There is a problem with Xiao Hua!”

soya: i knew she was sus!! also, i actually wanna know, in times of crisis like this where people have a) explained to you what this world is; b) people have already died due to heightened emotions/overreaction, is crying at every little thing… ok?? i feel like if you cry the first time you find out about it, it’s okay, but if you just keep crying and crying (loudly, at that) no matter what… hm